Cover Story

In the previous issue, we talked about the Green Building Movement and how turning green has been the key in reducing buildings’ impact on human health and the environment This issue will look at some of its benefits to building developers, designers, owners, and its occupants and how the benefits of turning Green exceed the costs.

First, let us talk of the costs, which is always a top-of-mind concern for most owners. A common perception exists among people that Green buildings involve huge additional costs compared to conventional buildings. This is not true. Several studies have been done on Green Building System and it has been shown that the energy savings could be as high as 60%, and water consumption reduced by 70%. The lifecycle cost analysis has shown that payback for additional costs of such buildings could be between 3 to 5 years and thereafter the savings accrue.

In fact, a two-fold savings in cost is achievable through Green building concepts. For example, an additional investment for the insulation of walls and roofs of buildings results in a reduced demand for air-conditioning. This leads to a smaller capacity air-conditioning system which reduces initial cost. There is also recurring savings in the energy cost of running air-conditioners. These two put together will not only pay back the additional investment in insulation, it will also continue to reduce energy costs over the lifetime of the air-conditioner. The savings in energy consumed could be further enhanced by using energy efficient air-conditioning systems like the VRF system that uses Copeland Digital Scroll™ compressors.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is one of the forerunners in building rating systems and is considered as one of the most established rating systems developed in the U.S. It is now being adapted by different world regions. LEED rating systems’ acceptance can be attributed to its logical and structured approach for measuring and validating building performance. There are several LEED Rating systems created to address the different building applications as seen below.